Chapter 446 - 276: Wealth and Honor Are Like Floating Clouds to Me

Chapter 446: Chapter 276: Wealth and Honor Are Like Floating Clouds to Me

As Lin Chu walked out of the airport terminal, he couldn’t help but smile slightly at her posture. He took the flowers, and they went to the parking lot together. Only after they got in the car did Gu Jiayan visibly relax.

’This girl is strange.’

’Even though they had been intimate, she still seemed a little reserved, casting herself in the role of a junior assistant rather than a girlfriend or lover.’

’Not the least bit flirtatious.’

"You got a tan."

Looking at Lin Chu in the passenger seat, Gu Jiayan chuckled softly.

"The UV is strong in the highlands. It’s good to be a bit darker—it’s a fashionable tan."

Lin Chu replied with a nonchalant smile.

"A lot has happened at the company. President Liu brought in two people, an executive vice president and a VP of finance... I think they’re both quite capable. Everything’s been running smoothly, no chaos."

"Every day, lots of people come looking for you. Reporters, your fans, streamers drawn by your reputation, and all sorts of other random people."

"Someone from the Hu Run Rich List came by once."

"Also, a guy named Lu Dahai has come several times. The first time, he brought his younger brother, lots of gifts, and even presented a silk banner. The media even reported on it."

"And... a couple of days ago, the foundation’s official account received a donation. The transaction record shows it’s from the Dali area, and the donor is named Bai Weiwei. She donated 2.1 million in total. It should be related to you too."

Gu Jiayan chattered on, updating him on recent events—all things she felt it was necessary to tell Lin Chu.

Lin Chu was slightly taken aback.

’This...’

’I didn’t expect that.’

’She’s quite noble, isn’t she?’

’The LC Foundation is an organization that accepts public donations, so its account information is naturally public. Bai Weiwei...’

"I see."

He rolled down the window, silently lit a cigarette, and exhaled the smoke into the city’s hazy, bustling night sky.

"So... where are we going now?"

Gu Jiayan sensed that Lin Chu seemed a little unhappy, but she didn’t press the issue, only asking softly.

"I’m going to make a call."

Lin Chu took out his phone and called Li Ziming and Xin Fu. After confirming they were both at the club, he said, "Let’s head to the club."

On the way, the image of that girl’s blushing, crying face involuntarily came to his mind.

...

Hearing that Lin Chu was back, Li Ziming and Xin Fu quickly got to work over at the LC Club.

For the past several days, they had been working around the clock.

The opening ceremony was the next day, so the two of them hadn’t planned on going home that night anyway.

Golfers from all over the country, top amateur players, media, celebrity guests, and leaders from relevant government departments had arrived in a large group today. They were being housed at both LC Club and Mission Hills.

This open tournament was the club’s most important public event since its rebranding, and they absolutely could not drop the ball.

Obviously, Lin Chu took this extremely seriously—he had even come straight back for it.

They didn’t know what Lin Chu had been up to all this time. They vaguely knew he had gone away, but they couldn’t quite believe he would just drop everything to go on vacation. They suspected he must have had another objective.

’What kind of boss goes on vacation at a critical juncture like this?’

’He must have had something more important to do.’

But Lin Chu hadn’t said anything, so naturally, it wasn’t their place to ask too many questions.

Besides, for Lin Chu, the next day’s ceremony was more or less just a formality.

Everything else had already been arranged long ago.

A little after eleven at night.

When Lin Chu arrived at the entrance to the LC Club, he was surprised to find it festooned with lights and banners. It looked exceptionally grand. The illuminated signs of various sponsors glittered, giving the place a truly impressive air.

Li Ziming and Xin Fu were already waiting at the entrance. Seeing Lin Chu arrive, they quickly scurried forward and opened his car door.

"President Lin, you’re back."

"President Lin, Secretary Gu."

Nodding, Lin Chu’s expression was calm. "How are the preparations coming along? No problems, I hope?"

"Rest assured, everything is arranged."

"The opening ceremony is at nine tomorrow morning. After the ceremony, the inaugural match will begin."

Xin Fu said with a broad smile, his voice slightly hoarse.

He’d been coordinating everything lately and had talked himself hoarse.

Lin Chu nodded and smiled.

"Alright. You’ve both worked hard. Once December is over, take a vacation. Get some good rest."

"It’s all in a day’s work, nothing to speak of. This open tournament, combined with the earlier Old Friends Tournament, has really put us on the map. Our membership numbers have skyrocketed, and this month’s revenue from membership fees alone was 130 million."

"We’ve secured 13 advertising sponsorships, bringing in a total of 89 million. If the retail side hadn’t taken the title sponsorship, we could have broken the hundred-million mark."

"However, because of the high prize money, we can’t break even yet. President Xin and I estimated that even with the partnership with Mission Hills, our net expenditure for this tournament, not including their part, will be around 500 million."

Li Ziming said in a low voice, his tone tinged with a bit of worry.

This kind of competition was clearly a case of losing money to gain publicity.

While it was certainly good for the club in the long run, greatly boosting its intangible assets and brand equity, in the short term, the cash flow on the books was taking too big of a hit.

If they held it every year, it would mean losing money every year.

The business model would be fundamentally unsustainable.

Without high prize money, they couldn’t attract famous players. Without famous players, they wouldn’t get the advertising impact and sponsorships...

But with the high prize money and various other expenses, there was almost no possibility of turning a profit, even with increased club memberships.

Many large-scale sports projects faced this kind of dilemma. It wasn’t unique to LC Club, nor was it unique to golf.

’We can’t expect the boss to just keep pumping his own money into it every year, can we?’

Hearing this, Lin Chu glanced at Li Ziming. "Let’s finish this year’s tournament first. We’ll talk after the final revenue and costs are calculated."

"The Group isn’t short on this kind of cash. The parent company will naturally foot the bill to build the club’s brand image."

’On the surface, it really wasn’t a good business.’

’The difference was an information gap; I had the rebate system.’

’Of course, the reason Li Ziming is so worried is that we decided in a previous meeting that the four subsidiaries would be responsible for their own profits and losses. If they turned a profit, they’d get to split what’s left after paying a portion to the Group.’

’My insistence on this loss-leader tournament was, in fact, hurting his personal bottom line.’

’Come to think of it, that’s rather interesting.’

’A divergence of interests has emerged between the whole and its parts.’

’However, at this stage, Li Ziming probably doesn’t dare say much more.’

’After all, he’d engaged in corruption before, and I had already called him out on it. He’s currently in the process of atoning for his past mistakes.’

At this moment, listening to the conversation between Lin Chu and President Li, Xin Fu wisely kept his mouth shut.

’The sales department’s commissions were tied directly to membership sales. Sell a membership, get a commission.’

’The sales department’s interests versus the club’s overall interests—it was just another conflict between a part and the whole.’

Lin Chu’s gaze swept over the two of them. Thinking about the situation, he found it more and more interesting.

’Li Ziming has now become the man in the middle.’

However.

’This current situation... I don’t feel like changing it just yet.’

’When the operation gets this big, situations like this are inevitable. It’s perfectly normal.’

...

「The next morning.」

The inaugural LC & Mission Hills Professional Golf Gold Grand Prix officially kicked off.

The opening ceremony was held at Course No. 1. By the time Lin Chu arrived, it was already packed with people, grand and bustling.

He stood in the center of the stage. To his left was the supervising government official, and to his right was Zhu Yizhen. Lin Chu’s gaze swept over the crowd, both on the stage and below.

Leaders from the relevant government departments.

Various entrepreneurs.

A-list celebrities.

Professional players.

Media and reporters.

The club’s clients.

Spectators.

And his friends...

’In that moment, the crowd was laid bare before him, clearly defined in distinct layers, like a large and complex ecosystem—a society in miniature.’

’And in a way, this was his first real entry into the mainstream public consciousness.’

’Live streaming didn’t really count as "mainstream"; it was just entertainment.’

The ceremonial cannons boomed.

He picked up the scissors.

He cut the ribbon.

Lin Chu smiled and clapped along with the crowd.

The cameras of the media below the stage captured the moment.

The image was also broadcast live over the internet to various partner news channels.

It was already confirmed that the Peng City TV Station news would give the event a dozen or so seconds of airtime.

’This was, by and large, the biggest highlight of his twenty-four years of life.’

...

...